The strongest five-pick theory shortlist is Dalamadur, Akantor, Dire Miralis, Yama Tsukami and Akant, because each one combines fan demand, a long absence, and a role that suits the bigger Master Rank fights of Ascendance.
Dalamadur, Akantor, Dire Miralis, Yama Tsukami and Akant are the five strongest candidates for Monster Hunter Wilds: Ascendance. The expansion has a 2027 window and an Elder Dragon-focused story, while Lao-Shan Lung and Kushala Daora are already returning as Elder Dragons. Those choices open the door for Capcom to pull more long-absent monsters from the archives. This five-monster theory uses a consistent method rather than an insider roster.
- The theory and its five picks
- The filter behind these five picks
- The shortlist at a glance
- Dalamadur, the giant title-update headliner
- Akantor and the Ukanlos pairing problem
- Dire Miralis, the black-dragon wildcard
- Yama Tsukami and Ascendance’s airborne slot
- Akant, the grounded roster pick
- Names that just miss the method
- Most likely versus most exciting
The theory and its five picks
The new monsters already shown are the only announced additions, so Dalamadur, Akantor, Dire Miralis, Yama Tsukami and Akant remain predictions rather than promises. Each one earns its place through the same selection filter instead of personal favoritism.
Ascendance already has a strong returning-monster identity. Lao-Shan Lung arrives as a base-story siege fight and was a genuine surprise in the reveal, showing that the expansion is willing to reach deep into the series for something enormous. If Capcom continues that approach, these five monsters fit the reach.
The filter behind these five picks
The method weighs a monster’s popularity and its time away from the series, with its fit for the game being made taking priority over both. Everything shown presents Ascendance as high, airy and Elder Dragon-heavy, putting monsters built for vertical, large-scale fights at the front of the queue.
The shortlist starts with the community’s largest anniversary popularity ranking, then moves down through highly placed monsters that haven’t appeared since Monster Hunter Wild. Lao-Shan Lung demonstrates the pattern: extremely popular, absent from mainline since World, and exactly the kind of legacy giant Ascendance wanted.
The filter removes two groups. Variants and deviants — including a Blood Bath Diablos or a Crimson Glow-style Valstrax — don’t count as base returns, so they stay outside the five. Awkward end-boss choices that cannot sit naturally beside an existing siege fight move to the honorable mentions instead of taking a main slot. That leaves five deliberate, highly requested returns.
The shortlist at a glance
| Monster | Ascendance fit |
|---|---|
| Dalamadur | Headline title-update setpiece |
| Akantor | Paired update with Ukanlos, or base roster |
| Dire Miralis | Black-dragon title-update wildcard |
| Yama Tsukami | Airborne base-game surprise or setpiece |
| Akant | Grounded mid-tier roster hunt |
The five divide into two groups: giant spectacle fights made for title updates and grounded additions that give the roster balance. Here is how each monster ranks under the popularity-based method.
Dalamadur, the giant title-update headliner
The first major contender arrives around 29th in the ranking: the giant mountain snake. Dalamadur makes the entire shortlist click because it is hugely popular, has been absent for years, and remains one of the most visually spectacular monsters in the series. Its first encounter is a genuine event, although repeated farming becomes a slog.
Dalamadur fits Ascendance from every angle. It fights high above the ground across enormous vertical spaces, making an arena-style setpiece suspended from one of the expansion’s elevated areas a natural match. A fully CG behemoth of this scale would once have felt too ambitious, but Lao-Shan Lung has already raised that ceiling alongside the recently returned Gogmazios and Lagiacrus. Among the legacy giants suited to an Ascendance title update, Dalamadur belongs at or near the top.
Fans have also spent the better part of a decade reading the recurring Dalamadur skeletons scattered throughout recent games as a slow-burn tease. That long-running community theory continues to fuel demand for this specific return.
Akantor and the Ukanlos pairing problem
Around 44th sits the strongest non-Elder pick on the list. Akantor has Elder Dragon-level power without being an Elder Dragon, making it an ideal large-scale setpiece and the type of monster players welcome in a title update. It is also the most conventional of the five, with a fight that could slot directly into the base roster instead of being held for a special release.
The complication is its opposite number. An Akantor return immediately creates demand for Ukanlos — the tusk and the chin, the pair that only ever meet to try to kill each other. Bringing one back without the other leaves the pairing incomplete, so the strongest version of this pick is an “Akantor and Ukanlos” package, which is an ideal size for a title update. Akantor remains the named entry, with Ukanlos attached as its natural counterpart.
Dire Miralis, the black-dragon wildcard
Just beyond the high-40s comes the wildcard. Dire Miralis is enormous, rare, and built to headline a title update without repeating another Fatalis-style return. It also stands as the only black dragon yet to make its comeback, giving Ascendance a major legacy monster to reclaim.
Water is the obvious obstacle. Dire Miralis belongs to a molten-sea fantasy, while Ascendance is not bringing back full underwater combat. Lagiacrus‘s recent treatment provides the solution: a partial-swimming, setpiece-traversal encounter can recreate the aquatic atmosphere without restoring the old underwater system. Hunters could circle and swim around Dire Miralis during a temporary encounter instead of fighting it freely in open water. If Capcom skips the old-Fatalis route, a Dire Miralis event is the clean alternative.
Yama Tsukami and Ascendance’s airborne slot
Yama Tsukami is the strangest selection and one of the strongest fits. This floating, drifting giant matches Ascendance’s vertical, airborne identity better than most legacy monsters. The developer discussion around the reveal heavily emphasized Lao-Shan Lung’s inclusion before pointedly asking “so what else?”, adding momentum to Yama Tsukami’s case.
Its placement separates it from the other giants. Most belong firmly in title-update territory, but Yama Tsukami sits closer to Lao-Shan Lung as a monster Capcom could place in the base game as a jaw-dropping surprise. Roster space is the obstacle: Lao-Shan Lung already occupies the expansion’s marquee giant-monster slot, so adding another colossal CG fight before the inevitable final boss demands a substantial commitment. If the base game has space for one more, Yama Tsukami is a strong choice.
Akant, the grounded roster pick
After skipping the monsters that fail the filter, the next conventional contender appears at 81st: Akant. This pick gives the shortlist balance. Without a grounded, mid-tier hunt, the lineup becomes a parade of giant title-update bosses; Akant makes it resemble a complete Master Rank expansion roster.
Akant fills the role of a solid mid-journey threat, with an icy or shard-cliff environment providing a suitable home even if the exact map shape is not a perfect match. It lacks Dalamadur’s spectacle and will not ignite the internet in the same way, but it is the kind of return that earns a genuine cheer while strengthening the roster. (Yes, the die-hard “come on, Gammoth” crowd will have thoughts — this is the slot they’d fight over.)
Names that just miss the method
| Monster | Status in this theory |
|---|---|
| Old / White Fatalis | Honorable mention; a variant, but Iceborne-style title-update potential |
| Ahtal-Ka | Next up the ranking, but an end boss that clashes with Lao-Shan Lung |
| Great Jaggi | Technically the fifth by the metrics, but too low-tier to spend a slot on |
| Ceadeus | Skipped — no sign water content is coming back |
| Namielle | Great fit, but too recent to pass the long-absence filter |
| Zinogre | Widely assumed to return anyway; not a product of this method |
| Nakarkos | A constant wishlist name, but outside the five |
| Deviljho | Expected eventually, but it was in World, so it fails the absence test |
Several tempting monsters sit just outside the shortlist for clear reasons. Some are variants that do not count as base returns, others are end bosses that conflict with an existing siege fight, and the rest are either too recent or too low-tier for the available Master Rank slots.
Old / White Fatalis is the honorable mention with the strongest case. It stands on its own as a creature, and Ascendance could give it the same kind of title-update treatment Iceborne gave Fatalis. Great Jaggi is the method’s amusing edge case: the raw filter awards it the fifth slot, but spending a Master Rank roster position on a low-tier monster that players sweep aside during the opening quests wastes the opportunity, so the shortlist moves ahead to Akant.
Most likely versus most exciting
The five split cleanly between the practical and spectacular picks. Akant and Akantor are the easiest to place as straightforward base-roster additions, forming the sensible half of the list. Dalamadur, Dire Miralis and Yama Tsukami are the headline swings: enormous setpieces and title-update attractions that would define Ascendance’s post-launch run. The monsters with the simplest path into the roster are not necessarily the ones players most want to see.
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